AVM Fritz!Box
Shares rank 6 of 15 routers by recommenders
Popular home router and modem, easy to configure through its web interface and well supported with updates. Caveat: no VLANs or extra SSIDs for advanced users.
Popular home router and modem, easy to configure through its web interface and well supported with updates. Caveat: no VLANs or extra SSIDs for advanced users.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 65%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy web interface configuration
“Perfect router/modem for consumers (not too complicated), can be configured through a web interface”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “Motorola effectively bricked its entire line of WiFi routers without explanation” “Easy interface. Good enough hardware. Stable modems.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP” “The web UI is kind of nice, actually.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP” Solid hardware and stable modem
“Fritzboxes have distinguished themselves by being about the best device you can hope to get from an ISP.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP” “I am happy enough with a FritzBox (maybe also because of the included modem, so less devices)”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Do you want a router that has DD-WRT pre-installed?” “Rock solid and has a lot more bells and whistles than I expected”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Wanted to download an ISO, ended up writing a kernel exploit” - Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP”
Long firmware and security support
“They support the hardware for ages.”
Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP” “quite good at security maintenance”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Drilling down on Uncle Sam's proposed TP-Link ban” Many features for home use
“It can traffic-shape, forward ports, configure fixed IP addresses and DNS names”
Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP” “Rock solid and has a lot more bells and whistles than I expected”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Wanted to download an ISO, ended up writing a kernel exploit” “controls UPnP access with per-device controls”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “QtNat – Open you port with Qt UPnP”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Limited advanced and VPN features
“their routers limited capability of establishing and routing IPsec VPN”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 on Hacker News “miss a the advanced features Unifi supports”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “UniFi 5G”
Other routers people recommend
The four most recommended other routers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MikroTik router | 59 | 26 | 69% | 11 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| GL.iNet travel router | 54 | 5 | 92% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Ubiquiti UniFi Travel Router | 35 | 16 | 69% | 2 | — | — |
| OpenWrt One | 34 | 10 | 77% | 7 | 3 mo3 owners | Approved |
| AVM Fritz!BoxThis page | 15 | 8 | 65% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
24 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I don't think this build quality is solid”
“Rock solid and has a lot more bells and whistles than I expected”
“Fritzbox is a terrible name for hardware, as "fritz" is American slang for machinery that is malfunctioning/broken.”
“I am happy enough with a FritzBox (maybe also because of the included modem, so less devices)”
“i can't understand why AVM don't allow this to be configured!”
“Arguably that's on them, but .lan seems much more controversial”
“due to being non-pro end-user focus, you cannot set up your own VLANs or additional SSIDs”
“they are rather noisy, with no option to stop that noise”
“included with monthly package with 12 month contract, but becomes your property”
“Perfect router/modem for consumers (not too complicated), can be configured through a web interface”
“No proprietary payphone with questionable ToS and privacy policies needed.”
“Fritzbox (which is again a whole integrated thing; with questionable features)”
“They support the hardware for ages.”
“It can traffic-shape, forward ports, configure fixed IP addresses and DNS names”
“The web UI is kind of nice, actually.”
“Fritzboxes have distinguished themselves by being about the best device you can hope to get from an ISP.”
“Easy interface. Good enough hardware. Stable modems.”
“Aren't those Fritz!Box routers (common in Europe) precisely examples of”
“controls UPnP access with per-device controls”
“AVM is great for single-owner use with sub 20 devices.”
“miss a the advanced features Unifi supports”
“Everyone with a modicum of technical understanding goes for a Fritzbox though.”
“quite good at security maintenance”
“their routers limited capability of establishing and routing IPsec VPN”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.